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Teal Lake Shiraz (2019)

10,000 Birds

Forget lions, tigers, and bears – if Internet listicles are to be believed, all of Oz is full of crocodiles, sharks, jellyfish, snakes, spiders – even magpies – that are dead set on killing, maiming, or injuring any humans they encounter. One of these killers even has the word “death” in its name, for crying out loud.

2019 233
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Birding Shanghai in May 2023 – Part 2

10,000 Birds

One study in Korea found that 37% of injuries and deaths were caused by predation by natural enemies, another 37% (a worryingly high number) by window strikes, 10% by traffic accidents, 7% each by flooding and dehydration, and 3% by human disturbance. I wonder what Barn Swallows did before humans started building houses.

Birds 130
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Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl–A Book Review

10,000 Birds

Here are some of the questions that were running through my mind as I read Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World’s Largest Owl : (a) Is ornithological research always this dangerous? (b) He wanted to do research that would have a conservation impact. Slaght provides funding from research grants.

Owls 139
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Vultures, Human Evolution, Global Warming, and Windmills

10,000 Birds

The topic was the concept of humans as predators, or hunters, or really, eaters of meat, and I was discussing the many ways in which people misconceived this notion. He correctly criticized my advisor at the time, Glynn Isaac, for having done that. Any buffalo bones from prior to that transition were obviously scavenged.

Humane 165
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Birding Shanghai in October 2022

10,000 Birds

It seems the ones I got decent photos of are all juveniles – it generally seems to be easier to get photos of juveniles as they have not quite learned to avoid humans. Thank god that this does not apply to humans. Sometimes being a member of the human race feels very embarrassing.

Birds 204
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Birding Sukau, Sabah, Borneo

10,000 Birds

Not sure why they spend time in Shanghai in winter when they could come here though, but then again, I usually do not understand most of the behavior of humans either. Tiphys died either of a snakebite or of a mysterious illness but he was not killed by either a tiger or a rhinoceros. Yes, we have them in Shanghai as well.

Birds 225
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Birding Shanghai in September 2022

10,000 Birds

Chinese researchers have actually been able to identify individual Asian Stubtails on the basis of their songs ( source ). Similar to the situation among humans, among Grey-capped Greenfinches , “high-quality individuals prefer to mate with each other” ( source ). Eurasian Bitterns similarly try to stay out of sight.

China 186